Kat didn't know the answer. She refused to find out. Not now. Not any sooner.And yet even with Samuel long gone, even with the gateway to Hell closed and away from them, the only thing she could think about was his question and how everything might just be a quest to find an answer. By the time she and Calix exited the Egyptian gateway and busted out into the front steps of the mansion, the bound men on the stairs and on the lawn were no longer there. Instead of taking that as a good sign, they just ran to the gate as fast as they could and boarded into the truck without a word to each other. 

For a moment Calix couldn't believe his ears. Even as Kat recoiled with a hand on her mouth, he was still pretty certain that he hadn't heard Thisbe correctly.He leaned closer to the mirror. "What?""A traitor, Calix," Thisbe repeated through gritted teeth. "Come here una

The civil, formal, and detached version of Calix was way worse than any post-argument treatment Kat had ever experienced, and that was saying a lot.Even now, after a couple of hours had passed, she still couldn't believe how quickly everything had gotten out of hand. It was a marvel, really, how she'd managed to destroy their bond in one blow. Now, he was giving her exactly what she'd asked for, which was space, and she hated every single moment of it. His curt, aloof manner not only translated into direct stabs to her heart, but also fuels to her already heightened anxiety about the wedding.Oh, God. The wedding.The thought of it alone made her whole body tingle with both anticipation and dread.Anticipation because she would see all her friends again, and dread because they all probably thought she was gone for good. Imagine having received an invitation a month late. A month. She wouldn't actually be surprised if they replaced her already—"Fuck," Kat blurted out, dropping her for

Calix's head shot up, his heart doing a flip in his chest. "What?”“Oh, please,” Lissy scoffed. “Guys who look like you are the work of the devil. You have bad news written all over your pretty face. What do you want from Kat? Why is she dating you?”A breath of relief escaped him. For a second he thought she was a spy from the Underworld or an impostor, but his problems with her were not over yet. She was still onto him, in a way that was more dangerous than if she were a spy. “We are . . . She is not dating me. We are just friends."

Freezing. Cold. That was what Calix had said he'd noticed, even though Kat hadn't. Could this mean that it was her way of healing, or was this only an introduction to something worse?This question kept Kat awake that night. Her body felt almost jelly-like with exhaustion, but her mind was as active as ever. Even with Calix's warmth beside her, she had very little comfort. Sleep eluded her. She kept coming back to the past. She remembered the suffocating sensation brought upon by removing the medallion, the fragile layer of ice forming on her skin, the heavy suspicion settling on her gut that told her everything was just a prelude—"Kat?"